Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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656. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount that his Department spent during the calendar year 2021 supporting animal welfare and animal sanctuary organisations. [45115/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Animal welfare is a key priority for my Department and considerable resources and funding are provided to support animal welfare charities involved in rescuing and rehoming animals through the Animal Welfare Grant Programme for Registered Animal Charities.

In December 2021, I awarded record funding of over €3.7 million to 98 animal welfare bodies throughout the country through this Programme.

This funding for animal welfare organisations is evidence of my own and the Government’s ongoing commitment to animal welfare and acknowledges the important role played by animal welfare organisations. These organisations play a crucial role in ensuring all our animals are cared for and protected.

The Programme for Government includes an undertaking to provide additional funding in support of animal welfare again this year, to which I am fully committed.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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657. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the schemes and funding streams offered by his Department to non-profit organisations dedicated to animal welfare and animal sanctuary. [45116/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The funding stream offered by Department to non-profit organisations dedicated to animal welfare and animal sanctuary is through the Animal Welfare Grant Programme for Registered Animal Charities.

The call for grant applications for this year's awards was launched in June this year and applications received are now being evaluated by my officials .

These applications for annual funding from animal welfare organisations are assessed carefully and awards are made on the basis of objective criteria. These include the level and type of assistance provided by the organisation in the delivery of care and welfare services to animals and the level of funding raised by organisations from other sources to support welfare activities.

To be eligible for funding, applicant organisations must be registered charities and must supply detailed information on their governance arrangements and financial records.

In 2021, and again this year, to further enhance the impact of public funding for animal welfare bodies nationwide, my Department has aligned our funding model with the animal welfare policies, objectives and priorities outlined in Together for Animal Welfare, Ireland's Animal Welfare Strategy 2021-2025. Consequently, the assessment of funding places emphasis on the ‘One Health, One Welfare’ approach to education and dissemination of knowledge to improve animal welfare delivered by the organisations.